How To Save a Life
by DuchessofWords
Summary: One day and a series of events can change the life of Serena Campbell in more ways than one. Eventual Henrik/Serena. Rating may change eventually.
1. Let him know that you know best

How To Save a Life

A/N at the end.

It had started just like any other day. The sun had dawned as the illuminated moon disappeared against the rolling shadows. Perhaps she should have closed the bottle after her second - or maybe third - glass of Shiraz. Serena was certainly paying for it now - her migraine was taking a heavy toll on her, even more so than usual. Mentally preparing herself for the day ahead, Serena came to the conclusion that if she liked it or not, she had to go to Holby. After all, she did consider it her personal prison - and that was at the best of times. She held her head in her hands and moaned heavily. The back of her head was burning. Leaving her plush golden bedroom, otherwise known as her personal sanctuary, Serena made the seemingly long journey across the landing and down the staircase towards the pitch black kitchen.

Fumbling around for the light socket, she cursed under her voice as she stubbed her toe on the hard surface of the wall. 'Shit!' Her exclamation echoed around the empty room. Hobbling on one foot, her hand trailed up the wall in search of the square ivory box. Eventually, she flipped the switch and the room was light by a dull glow.

Trying to cure the throbbing pain in her toe, which almost outweighed that of her head, Serena waddled from the doorframe and across the kitchen to the marble countertop, where the silhouette of her coffee machine was awaiting her arrival. Pushing down the side button to start the boiling process, Serena forced herself onto her tip toes in order to reach her favourite porcelain mug - as fair as her skin. Bringing the mug down to rest on the counter top, she waited until the 'ding' sounded around the room, like the noises resounding in her head. Clasping the handle of the coffee maker, Serena poured the boiling liquid into the mug before her.

Allowing herself a few moments of serenity, Serena rested her back against the cold countertop. Her eyes struggled to fight off the desire to fall asleep right there or on the cold hard ground below her. Suddenly she was startled by the shrill of her blackberry from her back pocket. 'Shit!' This really wasn't her day, was it? The boiling liquid came into contact with the soft material of her favourite ivory shirt. Stained. Never to be worn again. Cursing the heavens above, Serena slammed the mug down onto the counter top, no doubt chipping it in the process.

Fuming off in the direction of her utility room, Serena pealed the soaked blouse from her skin and quickly replaced it with the nearest thing; a crinkled cream blouse. Literally only out of the washing machine, and not yet ironed, Serena decided this was the best thing she was going to find and stalked out of the room.

After grabbing her endless pile of paperwork, she made her way out of the house and towards the granite driveway. Clicking the 'unlocked' button of her car keys, Serena sat herself down in the driver's seat, chucking her paperwork and bag onto the passenger seat beside her. Placing the key into the ignition - Serena felt like breaking the nearest thing to her into a million tiny pieces. Her car wouldn't start. Seriously? Could today really get any worse?

Reaching over, Serena moved to pick up her handbag, bringing it onto her lap, she rumbled through the bottomless bag in search of her blackberry. Calling a cab might be the safest option.

After eventually getting to Holby, Serena finally thought her day was slowly - but surely- starting to bright up. At least until she got out of the taxi to pay the driver and she managed to drop her new wallet into a puddle at her feet. What had she ever done to deserve this? Picking up her wallet, she examined the leather that had been soaked through from one side to the other, before fishing out whatever cash was of a presentable standard and handing it to the driver.

While attempting to put her heavy winter coat on while wiping the mud off her wallet, a chilling sound ran through her, cutting through her china doll skin like a blade, causing her to drop her wallet instantly as she froze midstep.

Bending down to scoop her wallet up in one shift move, Serena dropped the ruined accessory into her bag as she headed towards the noise. The wailing only continued to get louder, boarder-lining that of a banshee. Clearly wearing heels had been yet another bad choice today. Following the noise, she threw her bag up and onto her shoulder as she pushed herself towards the narrow alleyway towards the back of the hospital.

Her eyes landed on the bundle of cream blankets, soaked through by the surrounding puddles of water. It must of been the maternal side of her finally coming through that forced her down the narrow pathway and straight towards the crying infant. Her heart reacted quicker than her head as she forced herself to bend down and scoop the baby up into her right arm, listening as the infant's wails began to lessen almost instantly. As the pale bundle rested against her chest, as though he had been deprived of human touch for the entirety of his short life, Serena looked around the alley way desperately.

What could she do? What should she do? She was a doctor, so perhaps checking him out first would be a good starting point. Temperature. Ice cold. Bundling the blankets tighter around the young infant, she held him protectively against her chest as she made her way back out the alleyway as quickly as her heels would allow her.

Her heels echoed against the polished follow of the entrance of Holby City hospital. Completely ignoring the strange and bewildered looks she was getting, Serena made a beeline to the elevator. Trust her to arrive with a baby in her arms at rush hour... "Rena! Something you need to tell us?" The sarcasm of her american coworker did little to lighten Serena's mood. Rocking back and forth of her heels, Serena waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive as she once again checked the baby's temperature. No change. Glancing to her side as the american appeared at her hip, Serena rolled her eyes. "Stay out of this, Michael" She warned the man in a dangerously low tone as her arms wrapped protectively clasped around the infant - otherwise she would have hit the man. "Alright then, Momma sure isn't happy today" Michael chuckled as he brought his steaming coffee to his lips, taking a sip as he examined Serena and the baby for several moments until things finally became clear to him. Serena didn't have a child so young, in fact, he was well aware that she only have one teenage daughter. No one would leave Serena on babysitting duties, heck, he wouldn't even leave any of his kids with Serena let alone a baby. Though, judging by Serena's tense body language, constant rocking and her clear urgency to get into the lift, Michael would have bet his pension on that fact that there was more to this than met the eye.

"What happened?" Michael inquried as the doors of the elevator opened, revealing a steady flow of nurses, doctors and patients alike. Several others began to walk to the lift, until they spotted sight of the clearly angry and ragged up Serena Campbell and decided that if they wanted to live to see another day, then waiting on the next elevator would be a small price to pay. "I found him in the alley way" Serena announced in a soft voice as she made her way into the elevator, moving the silent infant to her left arm as she held her right hand out to press the button for the pedreatic/children's ward "What?" Michael demanded, resisting the urge to spit out his morning coffee, raising his eyebrow, the man turned to look at his companion as the elevator doors shut. Looking back down at the infant once more, Serena felt her skin grow cold at the idea of someone abandoning him there, and from the signs of it, he had been there a while before she found him - perhaps even all night. Deciding to push that thought to the back of her mind, Serena pushed the sides of the thin blankets away in order to get a better look at the boy. His skin was pale, almost porcelain like her own, but his eyes were what caught her attention first. Sea blue. Those eyes would no doubt one day be the downfall of a hundred girls, the thing that would make them all weak in the knees, the thing that may already have resulted in her being wrapped around his little finger. Tilting the baby upwards, she examined his curled up fist that he held against his cheek, as though trying to seek the warmth from it. Slipping her middle finger into his curled up fist, she shut her eyes at his weak grip. "I don't know how long he was out there for, but by the looks of it..." Serena pulled her attention away from the baby and towards Michael as the elevator finally, after what had felt like a lifetime and a half, reached its destination.

For once in her life, not that she would admit it, Serena was thankful for the fact that Michael was around. With a gentle hand on her back, the man guided her from the lift and straight down the hallway towards the children's ward, while he looked ready to do battle and ignored all the confused and curious looks and whispers from the nurses: Serena was preoccupied by the baby in her arms. His breathing was starting to level out, and the redness on his face from crying so hard had finally disappeared, and it seemed sleep was finally coming over him.

Henrik Hanssen had been doing his daily rounds of the hospital, having started on the top floor as per usual and was just finishing up on the children's ward whenever the elevator doors opened and the nurses seemed to dip into whispered conversation in a hurried manner. Deciding to find out about whatever event had grasped the short attention span of the hospital's nurses, Henrik looked up from his place at the front desk where he had been reading several patient files. Serena Campbell, he should have known. Although, his expression changed quickly whenever she turned to face him, looking straight past him as though she was in search of something, or rather, someone. He almost didn't notice the bundle in her arms. The array of thin cotton blankets held protectively against the left side of her chest, with only a small fist left uncovered, reaching up above the blankets, the only sign that Henrik wasn't imagining things. Right on Serena's heels was Michael Spence. The hospital's notorious ladies man. The sight of the man's hand on Serena's back sent a chill of envy through his veins. Serena and himself had became close in recent times, he would silently refer to her as his nearest co-worker, but these feelings were...well, something more. By the time he arrived next to the pair, Serena and Michael once again had their back turned. "Ms. Campbell, Mister Spence, you don't have an announcement to make, would you?..." Henrik began in his usual monotonous tone as he decided to channel his envy and jealous in their direction. However, the look on Serena's face instantly made him stop. Never had he seen the woman look so worried, even fearful, not when her mother had came in for a stroke, nor when her daughter had arrived at the hospital. This was different...and not in a good way.

The usual confident, rules with an iron fist, takes no prisoners persona was gone. "Walk and talk at the same time, Ms. Campbell" Henrik started as he stepped around the pair and headed in the direction he had seen several of the doctor's walking in earlier. "I found him in the alley way, I'm not sure how long he was out there, all night by the looks of it" Serena announced to the man as she struggled to keep up with his giant paces, she guessed being so tall had its perks after all. Michael remained a few paces behind the other two, having called a nurse over to go and page one of the doctors and too inform the others that at least Serena, if not himself, would be delayed.

Arriving at one of the side rooms, Serena looked up as she watched Hanssen close the curtains around them. "I feel some privacy is needed" He announced, making Serena finally aware of the gaping looks coming her way before the curtain shielded her from the nurses' sights. "Thank you for that" Serena replied softly as she walked towards the cradle, gently placing the bundle inside as she began to unwrap him from his blankets as Hanssen stood awkwardly to the side, clearly feeling uncomfortable. "If you asked me, I would say you've never seen a baby before" Perhaps those rumors of him being a modern day Dracula were true? Glancing up at the man, she watched as he lifted his gaze from the gentle rising and falling of the baby's chest and onto her. "Something like that" He muttered, clearly perplexed by the scene in front of him as they waited for the doctor to arrive.

This is the first time I've ever published any of my fanfiction, as truthfully I'm more of a RP kind of girl. I've also never written anything for Holby City or any of the characters so please excuse me if the characters are really out of character. I do have this planned out for several chapters and I am hoping to have a chapter up every day or two, but I really need to build my confidence with my writing, and this idea, up first. If you couldn't already guess, this will eventually be a Henrik/Serena fanfiction, when that might be though, I haven't exactly figured out. If you're interested in seeing what the OC looks like, this gif set on my tumblr page is pretty much how I imagine him to look like;

post/58757991693/never-give-up-on-a-miracle-fox-mu lder

I hope this was at least satisfactory and wasn't too bad for a first post. Please, don't forget about the little review box, it would be much appreciated, and I would also love to hear any and all ideas that you might have for this plot.


	2. Between the lines of fear and blame'

Chapter Two | 'Between the lines of fear and blame'

Whenever the roles were reversed, Serena had her eyes opened - extremely wide. For years her patients had nagged at her asking her where she had been, why she had taken so long, and what could possibly be more important than the care of their relative. Now, Serena found herself asking those exact same questions about one of her co-workers. Why was the head pediatrician taking so long? What could possibly be more important than the small infant before her? Had Michael gotten so distracted by some pretty little blonde thing that he had forgotten to either fetch the doctor or have him paged? Serena forced all the hundreds of possible scenarios out of her mind and looked down into the cradle with a heavy sigh, and an equally heavy heart.

Touching the back of her neck with her gentle fingertips, Serena shut her eyes as she tried to plan her next steps. It was only shortly after nine in the morning, but something in the back of her mind told her this would perhaps be one of the most chaotic and longest days of her life. She was brought out of her daze like state by the gentle crying of the infant before her as he awoke from his restless nap. His tiny, doll like hands rolled up into two equally small fists as he shook his hands in front of his face, as though he was yawning and stretching. His dark eyelashes blinked against his pale skin as his eyes opened, the rim of his eyes steadily filling with tears - until his eyes landed on the woman leaning over his cradle and the man looming in the shadows of the room, silently watching the exchange before him. Serena watched with slight confusion as the child stopped crying and looked up at her, with an equally confused look, as though he hadn't expected his cries to have been heard by anyone other than the shadows.

"Hello, little fella" Serena spoke softly as she bent down towards the cradle, her left hand coming to lightly crease the infant's pale cheeks. His eyes followed the movement of her hand and fingers, captivated by her gentle touch - as though he had been deprived of it since the very moment of his birth, if not even before. With one hand inside the cradle, and the other wrapped around the top bar of the right hand side of the cradle in order to keep herself balanced, Serena momentarily adverted her gaze to the figure near the shadows. "What's taking them so long?" She inquired, clearly patience was a virtue, and Serena Campbell's was wearing extremely thinner with each passing second.

Henrik remained in the shadows as he watched the scene before him unfolding. He had never put Serena down as the mothering type, even if she did have a teenage daughter, whom he was aware she had a rather rocky relationship with at the best of times. Though in that moment, watching her fussing over the infant in the cradle, he no longer felt like he was watching a vicious, over confident, outspoken, powerful and career focused woman - but instead a vulnerable woman fearful and filled with worried for the child she had no doubt saved for all sorts of untold terrors. He didn't try to hide the fact that the corner of his pale lips turned up in a half smile as he watched her leaning over the cradle. Whenever she turned to finally acknowledge his presence in the room by asking him how much longer it would take for the pediatrician to arrive, he allowed the half smile to leave his face as he tried to answer her question. "There's several surgeries on this morning, but I'm sure he'll be here in no time" Henrik answered, nodding his head in her direction as he slipped his hands behind his back in order to resist his urge to walk over to stand beside the cradle with her.

He had never been so close to someone so young that wasn't his own patient, and even then it had been well over a decade since he had treated someone nearly that young. Watching the infant, he silently allowed his mind to wonder what Fredrick had looked like at that age, or if Maja had ever been forced into a similar situation where she had been the one looming over the cradle with Fredrick inside. The infant in the cradle had been abandoned, but he had many years previously, abandoned his own child - maybe that's why he felt it necessary to remain in the room to see that the case was dealt with probably; or maybe he felt it was his duty to stay, someone needed to stay with Serena, she already seemed to be in a state, and would no doubt end up killing at least one of the doctors and two of the nurses if no one stopped her.

The door open, causing both Henrik and Serena to turn their attention from the infant and towards the door as an amused looking Michael entered, with a rather young blonde nurse trailing behind him like a lost love sick puppy. "Well, I'm afraid we can't get ahold of the head pediatrician, he's in surgery for at least the next three hours, so I've gotten 'Campbell Jr'. the next best thing..." It took every piece of self-control in Serena's body to stop her from strangling the man before her. Could he take nothing serious? Though she reminded herself that this was Michael Spence, and given half the chance to flirt with a much younger woman and he would take it, no matter the time, place or situation. However, Henrik seemed rather amused by the nickname, and combined with Serena's glare, which if looks could kill, Michael would be six feet under, almost made a rather amused smirk appear on his face - almost. "Mr. Spence" Henrik warned, he could almost feel Serena's temper growing by the second, so much that the tension in the room could be cut with a butter knife. The american held his hands up in self-defense before turning to look at the blonde woman beside him. "This is Nurse Jane, she'll be giving him a good MOT" While the blonde responded by giggling like a five year old, which only made Serena roll her eyes to the highest heavens, she couldn't help but think the woman before her reminded her of an even less intelligent and immature version of Chantelle.

Serena remained at the side of the cradle as the nurse advanced forward, pushing down the side of the cradle effortlessly so she could get better access to the baby. "What do we know about him?" The woman asked, looking up helplessly at Serena, who responded by raising her eyebrow and glaring down at the woman as she crossed her arms in annoyance. Trust Michael to get the most incompetent nurse in the hospital. Whenever Serena didn't answer, the nurse took her silence as a hint to get back to work - preferably in silence. A thought entered Serena's head, causing her to turn around to look at Henrik once more. "My electives..." She began, although stopped whenever the man before her raised his hand to silence her. "I'm positive Mr. Griffin or Mr. Spence could cover your electives without burning down the entire hospital" Henrik assured her as he glanced expectedly at the man at the door, who had been eyeing the blonde nurse for the duration of their conversation.

Michael was eventually pulled out of his daydreams by the dinging of his pager. "Where did I put the darn thing?" He asked as he fished around his pockets in search of the rectangular box that only continued dinging, as though begging for his attention. "I have a patient that needs to go into surgery, are you sure you'll be okay?" Michael inquired, facing the three in the room, although all were well aware that the question was directed to the pretty blonde next to the cradle. "Of course, Mr. Spence" Serena sighed deeply and walked away from the cradle and towards the window that gazed out over the front car park of Holby. Today was going to be an awful long day, and even more so if she was stuck with that nurse on her heels.

It had been well after lunchtime by the time the nurse had finished doing her examination, or 'MOT' as Michael had referred to it as, and the doctor had came for his initial review of the infant. Chills, sensitivity to light and poor feeding. Serena couldn't stop herself from coming up with her own possible diagnosis. Meningitis. The pediatrician claimed that he wanted to do more tests before coming to a proper diagnosis but even that couldn't stop Serena's worrying. Sitting cramped up in one of the visitor's chairs, Serena sighed heavily as her eyes rested on the gentle rising and falling of the unnamed baby's chest. The doctor had claimed that someone needed to stay with the baby at all times and it made sense for her to stay, she was the one who had found him - he was her responsibility. Her head was ringing, even worse than it was this morning, and she had yet to find a moment to slip away for a coffee or even something to eat - which was clarified by the gentle rumble of her stomach, like an oncoming thunder storm.

Deciding that even a nurse as incapable as Jane couldn't do anything horribly wrong if she slipped out for a few minutes, Serena began to push herself off the chair, already feeling the stiff knots forming the back of her neck from sitting in such an uncomfortable position. However, the echoing of heavy footsteps neared like an oncoming storm causing Serena to sigh heavily, knowing her luck it would be her least favourite American coming to visit 'Campbell Jr.' "Michael, I swear to god if you're coming with a baby balloon..." Serena started, knowing it was exactly the thing her co-worker would do. As she turned to face the guest, she thought of all the possible ways to kill Michael Spence - slowly and painfully. However, the face that greeted her certainly wasn't the American - rather the swede. "Mr. Hanssen, I apologise I thought you were..." Serena held her hand out as she thought of what to say, clearly already growing tired and it was only after midday. "Yes, you thought I was Mr. Spence. To be perfectly honest, I imagine that would be something he would do" He forced himself to disguise the smirk that came to his face at the idea of Serena's reaction if Michael had appeared with a baby balloon, he sure would have pitied the man, who Serena would no doubt have massacred given half the chance. "Any update on our patient?" Henrik asked as he took his place behind Serena's chair, his height allowing him to over look the cradle. After seating herself in the most comfortable position possible on the steel chair, Serena rested her head on her pale hand as she looked up at the man. "The symptoms are all pointing towards Meningitis" Serena confessed as her eyes glanced into the cradle once more with a worried expression.

The unnamed infant, whom Michael had affectionetly nicknamed 'Campbell Jr.' much to Serena's annoyance - and Henrik's amusement - had hardly eaten all day, managing all of one hundred milliliters of a bottle of milk, something that only worried Serena even more. The nurse, as well as the doctor, both assumed that 'Campbell Jr.' was all of one month old, a month and a half at the most - although suffering from malnutrition. Henrik sighed heavily, looking around awkwardly, as much as he wanted to comfort the clearly distraught Serena, he wasn't exactly sure how. Eventually, the man walked from behind the chair and over to the window in a few short paces. Looking out upon his empire, the Director of Surgery shut his eyes for a moment. "He's in the best possible hands, Ms. Campbell. They have no doubt caught it in time" With one last glance at the woman and the cradle, he stalked out before he too could become too emotional. Maybe that's why he couldn't deal with having newborns and young infants as patients, they all reminded him too much of how he had abandoned his son, even more so this baby after he had been abandoned, after what appeared to be mistreatment since the moment he was born.

As the day rolled by, Serena only grew even more tired. She had sent one of the nurses to go and fetch her mountain shaped pile of paperwork, if she didn't get started on some of it soon, she would no doubt be snowed over with it for the next week. After going through the fifth patient file, after the doctor had taken the infant away to do tests, Serena had finally decided to give up, not seeing just how late it had gotten. Five minutes of a nap couldn't do any harm. Her body and head was aching and sleep seemed to be the only medication that would cure her illness. Pushing herself to the side of her stiff steel seat, Serena rested her head down on the low arm rest as she used her lower arm as a pillow. The darkness came rolling in, and almost as soon as she rested her head down on her arm, sleep had overcome her and she fell into a restless sleep.

The shrilling ring of his landline echoed around his office, causing Henrik to look up from his own endless pile of paperwork. Placing his paperwork in a straight pile beside his third mug of coffee of the day - and certainly not the last - Henrik pushed himself off the chair and headed towards his phone. "Henrik Hanssen speaking" He answered, bringing his phone up to his ear. "Mr. Hanssen, you asked me to keep you updated with Ms. Campbell and the child brought in today" Nurse Jane spoke softly, as though terrified that at any moment Serena might appear behind her and slaughter her. "Yes" Henrik replied, wondering what had happened to cause the girl to call him. "The doctor has just returned with the boy from the tests and the results should be in by the morning, but well, Ms. Campbell..." The girl seemed nervous as she started to stutter over her words for a moment. "What about Ms. Campbell?" Henrik asked, noticing how the pitch of his voice increased as worried seem to wrap itself around his voice. "Well, you see, she's fallen asleep next to the cradle and no one wants to wake her" Henrik had to force himself not to laugh, trust the staff on the children's ward to be afraid of Serena, no doubt they were terrified that she would cut their head and put it on a silver spike above her dinning table. "I'll come down and deal with it" Henrik decided, knowing that anyone else would probably be terrified to approach the infamous 'Iron Lady', shaking his head, he placed the phone down once more onto the handset before making his way out of the room.

As he took the journey down several floors, Henrik slightly wondered what scene would greet him. Would Serena wake up and be like a ragged bull? Or would she demand to stay with the baby? She did seem rather attached to the little boy, not that he blamed her. As the elevator doors opened, he watched as several of the nurses shuttled out of his way as though he was an oncoming tornado - who would rip them to shreds. Clearly the news of Serena and the baby had travelled around the children's ward: what else would you expect when you had nurses's with an attention span of a goldfish when it came to work, and would rather gossip and read their magazines than save someone's life.

He nodded his head in acknowledgement as he spied Nurse Jane preparing to leave for the night, he would have to thank her later for remembering to call him. Clearly she was much better than what Serena gave her credit for - which wouldn't be hard. Stopping outside the door of room eight, he smiled softly after spotting that Nurse Jane had shut the blinds, no doubt the other nurses, as well as doctors, had been coming during the day to see what all the gossip was about. If Serena hadn't been so busy with paperwork and checking up on the boy, then no doubt she would have given them a royal dressing down, something he would have rather enjoyed seeing.

Arriving at the door, his cold hand came in contact with the silver handle. Taking a deep breath, he just prayed to the gods above that Serena wouldn't completely kill him. Pushing the handle door, he pushed the door back before stepping into the room. The sight before him made the side of his pale lips turn up into a smirk once more - how many times today had he done that? More than he could count. Shutting the door gently behind him, not wanting to wake either of his sleeping companion, before making his way towards the cradle.

Serena was out for the count, her back pushed against the seat as she slept facing the cradle, her arm resting at an awkward angle as it acted as a pillow for her head. Even when asleep, it seemed she was keeping a watchful eye on the infant, who was sleeping on his back, with his head facing towards Serena. It seemed the doctor was rather positive about the diagnoisis of Meningitis, as the young boy had an IV drip placed onto his hand, an unpleasant experience for anyone, even more so someone so young who knew nothing about pain. Sighing deeply, he decided there was nothing more he could do, as the little one seemed to be asleep, no doubt in a deep sleep thanks to his IV drip and other medication. Looking at Serena, he considered waking her up but deciding that she was most likely planning on staying with the baby anyway, so waking her up would be useless. However, he wasn't exactly happy with leaving her in such an uncomfortable position. Looking around, he soon located the thin cotton blue blanket that was left for parents and visitors to use during visits, it wasn't very large or the most comfortable but would offer Serena some warmth to her body. Dropping it over her smaller body, he looked up over her shoulder to spot the mountain like pile of paperwork, with one final glance at the infant in the cradle, he didn't that doing paperwork should be the last thing on Serena's mind.

Stepping away from Serena, he bent down to pick up the paperwork, struggling to hold it all in one arm as used his free hand to turn off the light, replacing the gentle glow with darkness, the only illumination coming from the small side light beside Serena's chair. With a final smile in their direction, he shut the door before disappearing off into the shadows.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, it really gave my confidence a much needed boost. I'm still not one hundred percent sure of the plot, but I really am warming up to it, and I'm enjoying the writing process. I'm about to board a 7 hour flight, so if there's any errors in this I apologise, I just wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible [hench why I only proof read the first half]

All reviews get you a cookie!


	3. Try to slip past his defense

Chapter 3 | Try to slip past his defense

It had been several years since Serena had last fallen asleep on a hospital visiting chair - and now she remembered why. God those things were rigid, there was no flexibility in the chair, which made it next to impossible to get into a comfortable position, the back of the chair was too low, simply adding to the knots in Serena's back and neck.; never before in her life had she been in such greater need of a massage. Groaning in pain, she slipped her hand onto the bottom of her neck, attempting to massage her fingers into her soft skin in a desperate bid to get rid of the knots that seemed to be forming by the minute. What time was it anyway? Glancing down at her watch, she mentally kicked herself for not waking up during the night. Glancing to her left, she felt a surge of panic running through her veins. Where was her paperwork? Knowing her luck, that blonde nurse had lifted them and no doubt they were buried under someone else's mountain of paperwork, never too be seen again, or even worse, they had been lifted and were making their way to the nearest bin - then she really wouldn't see them anytime soon, and the very idea of redoing paperwork killed her. It was then that she noticed the blanket lying on top of her, when exactly had she fetched a blanket? Deciding she would need to find out who it was that had saved her from a night of being freezing cold, simply to thank them if nothing else, she slowly folded the blanket so neat that even Henrik would approve of it.

Standing up, Serena cringed as she heard her back crack as she rested her hand on the lower section of her back, making a mental note not to fall asleep on any visitor chairs in the foreseeable future. Moving both hands onto her hips, she stretched for a moment as her eyes wandered down to the cradle before her. Although wide awake, he wasn't making a single sound, instead keeping his eyes on Serena the entire time, as though captivated at the fact that someone had stayed with him for more than five minutes. Walking towards the cradle, she checked his IV drip before bending forward so she could lean into the cradle - something she would regret later but at this point it was the least of her worries. Bringing her hand to his small head, she creased his cheek with her gentle fingers as she smiled softly. "Good morning" Tickling under his chin, she was rewarded with a smile and the starts of a small giggle. Bringing her hand to his forehead, she couldn't deny the feeling of dread that ran through her as she noticed that his chills had now turned to a fever. He grabbed ahold of her ring finger with his small hand and clutched onto it as tightly as an infant so young and in such a condition could do. "It's be okay, I promise" She knew he couldn't understand her, and she wasn't sure if the words were more to comfort him or her, but she felt they needed to be said. Dropping a gentle kiss on his small forehead, she watched his skin wrinkle against her touch as she pulled away, his hand still out stretched for her to take. She had to talk to Hanssen about him - eventually...

Her pager started dinging, causing Serena to mentally groan at the idea of dealing with some sort of crisis that no one else other than herself could deal with. After one last glance at the cradle, she grabbed her handbag before heading in the direction of the door "Nurse Jane, if there is any change you page me, immediately" Serena warned the nurse as she hurried past the main desk and towards the elevator, impatiently tapping the front of her heel as she waited for the doors to slowly open. You would think in an environment where every second counted, then they should have at least a slightly quicker elevator - not one you stood around for what felt like hours waiting on. After an eternity and a half, the elevator arrived with a 'ding', swiftly followed by the doors opening, allowing a steady swarm of doctors and patients alike to enter the ward. Waiting until the elevator was empty, Serena stepped inside, thankful to find that no one else was daring to enter the elevator behind her: no doubt terrified that she might rip them to shreds if they did. Pressing down on the button for Keller, waiting until the button light up, Serena took the few steps back to lean against the cold metal of the elevator. How could you sleep for several hours but still be beyond exhausted? Deciding that she needed a coffee as soon as possible, otherwise heads would roll across the floors of Keller, Serena went in search of Chantelle as soon as stepped out of the elevator. However, it seem great - or not so great - minds thoughts alike. Upon entering the ward, the always bubbly Chantelle appeared at her hip clutching a freshly brewed coffee. Sometimes Serena really did feel like she didn't give the girl enough credit. "Hello, Ms. Campbell. How's the little one?" How on earth did Chantelle constantly look like a child on Christmas Day? Her cheerful, upbeat, constant 'over the moon' persona made Serena feel even more exhausted - if that was physically possible. Holding the still steaming coffee out for Serena, Chantelle smiled up reassuringly, having heard all the rumors running around the hospital. Of course, if Serena knew even the half of them, she doubted many of the nurses would still even have jobs at the hospital, let alone their career. Taking the coffee with a grateful nod, Serena swallowed the first mouth burning sips, already feeling the much needed, 'life saving', caffeine beginning to kick in."He's getting... better, slowly but surely" She informed her blonde companion, having not allowed herself to truly consider how grave of a situation the little one was in. Meningitis was by no means a simple condition, with various possible consequences and even more dangerous side affects. Being a doctor wasn't the easiest of things, especially whenever she was more than aware of the possible consequences, though wasn't she the one who constantly told her patients to look on the positive side? Maybe it was time she started to take her own advice. "I'm sure he'll be fine in no time!" Chantelle assured her with one of her signature smiles and a gentle squeeze of her arm before hopping off to answer a patient's calls.

"You paged me?" Serena inquired with a raised eyebrow as she appeared across the bed from Rick, who looked up puzzled upon hearing the ever familiar voice of his colleague. "Serena? What are you doing here?" Ric asked, surprise lacing his voice as he placed the thin blue file containing the patient's notes onto the table beside him, clearly having expected someone other than Serena too appear. "You paged me" Serena repeated, as though she was speaking to a child, having to repeat what she was saying like a broken record in order to be understood, as oppose to a well respect long term consultant. "I know that, I sent them to page someone but I wasn't expecting you, I thought they would have sent Michael or Hanssen" Ric confessed, clearly not happy that it had been Serena that one of the nurses had paged, after sighing heavily, he picked up the patient notes once more. "I know you're busy, I can have someone else called for" It was impossible to get away from the rumors and the gossiping nurses - they were working overtime on this story. What else did you expect when Serena Campbell is escorted up to the Children's Ward by Michael Spence with a young infant, only for Henrik Hanssen to appear several moments later and then ask the nurses to keep an eye on Serena and the boy, only for Serena to spend the night at the hospital wing and for Henrik to be spotted leaving the room late at night? "Ric..." Serena warned the man, holding her thin hand out to snatch the patient files off him. "He's going for tests now anyway..." Her voice dropped as she informed Rick, adverting her eyes away from the man and down to the patient files. "I need someone to assist me in his operation this afternoon" Ric confessed, looking unsure about having the other woman assisting him, usually he didn't mind, but her mind was else where. Glancing over at Chantelle, he wondered what Serena would do if he asked the woman to page another doctor. "It's not a difficult operation, we could have it done in an hour and I would be back there in no time" She reassured him, knowing the sooner she got back to normal the better, handing him the file, she forced a weak smile as she picked her coffee up and took another sip - feeling as though it was becoming her personal drug before leaving the bed, and Ric along with it. "If you need me, I'll be in my office. If you can't find me, page me" She declared over her shoulder before heading out the doors towards her office, well aware of the dozens of eyes following her as she left.

Upon entering her office, Serena unceremoniously dumped her bag down onto the nearest visitor's chair before drowning her coffee as quickly as possible, knowing that a fresh one would become a necessity by the time she was going back into surgery. Deciding that she would have to go to Hanssen in order to pick up copies of some of her paperwork, she let out a heavy sigh before turning on her heel and taking the short journey down to the man's office, not looking forward to what his reaction would be too her losing a mountain of paperwork. As she headed towards his office, she decided to consider the best excuse possible that wouldn't result in him telling her off for being so careless, and for once in her life, Serena couldn't come up with anything. Deciding to be a big girl and face up to it, she stopped in front of his door and knocked against the hard wood before awaiting for his answer.

"Enter" Opening the door with as much caution as a military solider on the battle field, Serena slowly entered the 'danger zone'. "Mister Hanssen, I'm afraid I've misplaced my...paperwork" Upon entering the room, she walked towards the man's impeccably kept desk, only for her eyes to move from him to the familiar pile of paperwork sitting in front of him. "Which you seem to have found..." What on earth was going on? Folding her hands in front of her, she turned her head in a confused manner as she looked at the paperwork, all of which seemed to be finished. "Yes, I thought you had more than enough on your plate. Plus, weren't we...'sharing the work load'?" Henrik replied in his usual monotonous tone as he looked up from his work, but Serena sensed something was different about him, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was. "I guess so" Now that she wasn't doing anything, Serena felt even more exhaustion and an urge to no nothing but curl up under the warm covers of her bed and fall asleep for a hundred years - deciding she either needed to sit or fall asleep on the ground, she took the first option and seated herself on the chair in front of Henrik's desk. "How is he?" Henrik asked as he rested both his elbows on the armrests of his chair before folding his hands skillfully as he watched Serena with a careful gaze. "I don't know" She finally admitted, a worried look coming over her face as she thought of the boy laying in the cradle - all alone in the world. Bringing her hand to cover her mouth, she looked away for a few moments in order to gather her thoughts. "He's in the best possible care, and he has you to ensure that" Henrik attempted to reassure her as he leaned back on his chair ever so slightly. "I saw him last night, there's a bit more colour to his face" This grabbed Serena's attention, Henrik must have slipped in after she had fallen asleep, during which time he had taken her paperwork off the table, and it was most likely him who had covered her in the blanket; before she could say anything though, her pager started going off. "I have to get to surgery" She admitted, watching the message flag up on her small screen. Taking a moment to collect her emotions, she pushed herself up from the chair and headed towards the door, before stopping beside step and turning to look at him.

Forcing a weak smile, a difficult task after such a restless night, Serena turned to look at him. "Thank you for taking my paperwork - and the blanket" She admitted, batting her eyelashes as she glanced away for a moment, not wanting the blush to start forming on the side of her porcelain cheeks. "Any time" The man replied, shockingly smiling back at her. Opening her mouth to speak once more, she was yet again prevent from doing so by the loud ringing of the pager in her back pocket. Nodding her head in acknowledgement of his offer, Serena took a step forward before pushing down the cold handle of the door and stalking off to take the shortest route to the surgery. Knowing the sooner she got it done, the sooner she could go and see her other patient, and finally give herself some piece of mind.

The surgery wasn't a difficult one by any means, in fact, she could have preformed it in her sleep, but her mind was else where. Eventually getting through the procedure, she and Ric were about to finish up whenever a call came through, announcing its arrival through the fanfare of a shrilling ring - not one that someone with little sleep wants to hear. 'Ms. Campbell" Freezing on the spot, surgical equipment still in her hands, still in the patient, Serena took a deep breath and shut her eyes. Nothing could have happened between the time she left him and the now. Could it? A million possibilities ran through her mind before she raised her head to look at Chrissie. "Yes?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she tried to keep her voice at a normal tone - she failed miserably. "Nurse Jane asked me to tell you that he's out of his tests and back in his room" Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding and glancing at Ric, it seemed the man could read her like an open book now, nodding his head in her direction and uttering the simple world of "Go", Serena doesn't need much persuading before taking her equipment and leaving it on the side before heading towards the door. Ripping her generic red scrubs off at a record speed, she discarded of them as quickly as physically possible before heading towards the lift, calling out for the person inside to hold it. Once arriving inside though, she wished she hadn't. Trust her to be stuck inside a moving object with the biggest gossip in the entire hospital. Mary Claire.

Stepping inside, she silently hit the button for the Children's Ward. She could almost see Mary Claire's thin eyebrows raise to the top of her shiny forehead. "A name yet?" The woman's thick accent elopes the air inside the small metal moving box. "Pardon?" Serena asked, rather taken aback by the woman's question as she turned to look at her. "The baby. He needs a name. They can't just keep calling him 'Campbell Jr.' on the ward now can they?" Mary Claire asked, smirking to herself as she watched the woman, clearly trying to try her and pull at her strings, simply to see what information she could come out with. Although the younger woman had a good point, he didn't a name, Serena wasn't about to give her the satisfaction."I don't see why it's any of your concern" Thankfully, the doors to the Children's Ward decided to open there and then. Thank God, otherwise she doubted she could have put up with the woman much longer. Arriving in the ward, she was greeted by Nurse Jane who shot her another reassuring smile as she headed down the hallway, past all the other children, as though they weren't even there as she headed to her destination - the private room at the end of the corridor.

What greeted her was the last thing she expected. The boy was wide awake, as though nothing was wrong with him, trying in vein to grab put his tiny fists as high up to the slowly lulling mobile as possible for someone of his size while watching the looming man above him with a smile and a giggle. That man was none other than Henrik Hanssen. Standing at the left side of the cot, Henrik had the patient files rested on the railings as he watched the boy in amusement, eventually moving to lower the mobile until it was the right height for him to be able to touch it, well aware that his grip was no where near developed enough to pull any of the pieces down. Looking through the window of the thin door, Serena allowed herself a moment to take in the scene before her as it played out. This was a totally different side of Henrik, one she was slowly getting used to seeing. Although she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she was rather enjoying seeing the real him, not the person of the cold, no nonsense 'Dracula' like figure: instead a human being with real feelings and emotions.

Opening the door, her actions seemed to go unnoticed by Henrik, who seemed to be preoccupied with watching the infant trying to grab the mobile as a soft lullaby played around the room - was she seeing things, or was Henrik actually smiling? Not that little tug of the lips, but an actual smile. One she had never had the pleasure of seeing before.

Arriving at the opposite side of the cradle, Serena rested her hands down on the railings and looked down at the infant inside. For the first time in a long time, Serena felt contented.

A/N : Thank you all for your continued reviews! They mean so much! Remember, if you review, you get a cookie.


	4. Or Break With The Ones You've Followed

Chapter 4 | Or break with the ones you've followed

This chapter contents lots of cuteness...beware.

"You're very good with him you know" It was Serena who had eventually broken the silence between them. It had been well after a minute of them both looming over the cradle, closely watching the occupier with amusement as he continued to be amazed by the slowly moving mobile as it played a soft lullaby. Henrik looked up, unable to contain the smile that had graced his features while watching the small infant. "Not as good as you are" He replied while still leaning on the cradle with an amused smile. "Yes, well, not everyone can be as amazing as me" Serena teased as a playful chuckle left her lips. Keeping her gaze on him for several moments, she was about to speak whenever the youngest member of their group decided he wanted some attention. Letting out a cross between a gentle cry and a chuckle, the boy looked up at the two adults above the cradle, curling his arms in an upwards motion.

Bending down into the cradle, Serena slipped both her hands under the infant's small body in order to pick him up and bring him towards her chest, careful to insure that the IV stayed in place the entire time. Holding him against her chest, she slipped one arm around his waist while allowing her free hand to rest against the back of his head. "What's all the fuss about little guy?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, watching as he rested his head against her hand in order to look up at her. Her lips turned up into a bright smile, the first to reach her ears in a long while, as she watched a content smile come to the boy's face as he rested his head back down against her chest.

"He needs a name you know" Henrik reminded her as he raised the mobile back to its original height once more while glancing over at the woman and infant. He had never put her down for the maternal type, but now, standing in the middle of the nursery, watching her rocking the young boy in her arms, with the most content of smiles he had ever seen grace her lips, Henrik couldn't imagine her in any other way. This was now the second time that someone had brought up the topic of a name to her. Biting her lip gently, she watched the boy for several moments, considering a name before one dawned on her. "How about Nicholas?" Her gentle fingers stroked the few fine strands of hair upon the infant's head as his eyes began to shut and his thumb found its way to his mouth. Henrik waited a few moments, considering it himself before smiling. "It sounds perfect. Victory of the People. A good greek name" Never before had he been asked about his opinion on a child's name, so being able to add some input into this decision meant more to him than he thought Serena knew.

Rounding the cradle, he took the rolled up blanket from inside the ivory cradle and moved to wrap it around the baby's back, allowing Serena to move her hands enough to place them on top of the blanket without waking the sleeping newly named infant. "He will get better you know, his fever is going down" Henrik attempted to reassure her as he stood beside her, looming over her and the sleeping infant with a concerned expression. "I know, I just can't help but worry" She confessed with a gentle shrug of her shoulder as Henrik reached his hand out to check Nicholas' temperature by touching his forehead. "Serena I need you too...sorry" Michael exclaimed as he entered into the room, the door slamming shut behind him, a small army of paperwork rested securely under his arm. Serena jumped at the noise, moving to cover Nicholas' ears in the sheer hope that the child would remain asleep. Thank god for small mercies. "What do you want?" Serena hissed, her voice slithering across the room as she turned to face the man at the door. A sly smile came to Michael's face as he looked from Henrik to Serena, then finally the sleeping bundle in her arms. "Looking very cosy aren't we?" He asked with a smile as he sat down onto one of the visitor's chairs. "What do you want, Mister Spence?" Henrik asked, his own patience growing short as he looked at the man, silently cursing him for walking in on them, as Serena turned to put Nicholas back down into the cradle, keeping her back to Michael as she covered the infant in his soft ivory blanket. "One of my patients is being sent to surgery, and even though I'm covering Serena's electives for today, this surgery has to happen" Michael announced, causing Serena to grown in annoyance, knowing full well what was coming next. She had already left Nicholas once today to do a surgery, and no doubt the paperwork under Michael's arm was also for her. Pushing herself up from the cradle, she glanced over at Henrik with a pleading look. Leaving Nicholas again was the last thing Serena wanted to do, and the idea of doing one of her surgeries made a sense of dread come over her. Thankfully, it seemed that Henrik was starting to read her like an open book. "I will preform the surgery for Ms. Campbell"Henrik announced as he folded his hands behind his back, trying in vein to resist the urge to tell Michael off for his carelessness. "Great, seeing as you're not going anywhere, I thought I would bring you your paperwork" Did Michael have his own personal death wish? The man was literally saved by the belle. Before Serena could step forward and launch her own personal attack on the man for his sheer stupidity and carelessness, his pager began to ding. "I better run, you pair can go back to playing mom and dad" Michael called over his shoulder as he made his way out the door, yet again slamming it shut behind him.

"I'm seriously going to kill that man" Serena muttered under her breath as she turned to look at the cradle, thankful that once more Nicholas had slept through Michael's ill mannered behavior. To her surprised, Henrik chuckled softly at her words, shaking his head. "Now, Serena, we can't exactly have you going and offing our consultants, can we?" He asked with an amused look while glancing back into the cradle before eyeing the pile of paperwork. "I can take that with me if you'd like" He suggested with a nod towards the endless amount of paperwork that Michael had left behind. Serena smiled softly but shook her head. "It's fine really, you're doing my surgery, that's more than enough" She reminded the man before sitting herself down on the same stiff steel visitor's chair from the night before and sighed deeply. "I'll be fine, you go and do your surgery" Serena demanded, watching as the man sighed deeply, shooting one last glance at the cradle before he headed out the door, unlike Michael, he actually managed to shut the door properly.

The day seemed to drag on, rather uneventful if Serena was perfectly honest. The 'army of paperwork' was eventually cut down to a mere five files, which was when Serena decided that she had more than enough of looking at words and letters that seemed to simply stumble over the crisp white pages. Deciding that Nicholas was still asleep and nothing would happen if she shut her eyes for a couple of minute, she tried to make herself as relaxed as possible before shutting her eyes.

"Ms. Campbell" Serena was awoke from her sleep by the gentle pushing against her should and someone calling her name repeatedly. "What happened? Is it Nicholas?" Serena asked as she forced herself awake, her eyes fluttering open almost instantly - focusing on the cradle before her, noticing that Nicholas fine, although no longer asleep. Allowing herself a few moments to calm herself, she turned her head to focus on the blonde haired nurse before her. "Chantelle?" She asked, confused as to why the girl was here with her instead of being on Keller. "I'm sorry for waking you, I thought you might be in need of this" Chantelle picked the mug coffee up from floor and handed it up to the woman with a smile before jumping to her feet rather energetically.

"He's a handsome one, isn't he?"She asked, standing at the cradle to look down at Nicholas. "Yes he is" Serena took a sip of the coffee, giving herself a moment too allow the caffeine to kick in before she stood up from her seat and headed over to the cradle, looking down inside. "Have you and Mr. Hanssen came up with a name yet?" The blonde asked happily as she leaned over to get a closer look at him. Serena turned her head to look at Chantelle, it was then that it dawned on her that Michael probably hadn't kept his mouth shut about the scene he had walked in on. God she could only wonder what it had looked like, her clutching Nicholas to her chest while Henrik stood a little closer than most work colleagues usually did. "Yes, Nicholas" Serena informed the girl as she looked down at the infant, before leaning down to tickle under his chin, watching as he smiled against her touch. "It's a very nice name, Ms. Campbell" Chantelle informed her, even after a full day of work, Chantelle could still somehow look as fresh as she did whenever she first arrived at work - something Serena envied the girl for.

Deciding that she needed to get rid of the paperwork, as well as picking up something to eat, Serena turned to look at her companion once more. "I hate to ask this, but could you perhaps keep an eye on him while I run to my office. I'll only be five, ten minutes at the most" By the look of things, Chantelle was about to leave for home, and she knew how much of an appealing thought home was after a long and stressful day on the ward. "It's not a problem at all, Ms. Campbell. Go on ahead" Chantelle assured her before moving to take her bag off and proceeded to throw it onto the nearest chair. "Thank you, I'll only be five minutes" Serena promised once more, glancing into the cradle with a gentle smile before heading out the door, shutting it softly behind her once more.

On the way to her office, she stopped by the canteen to pick up something that she hoped would at least be half eatable. Trust her to be left with the option of a rather unpleasant looking stew or a salad sandwich that had been sitting out since this morning. Picking the latter option, she quickly paid before heading up towards her office once more, hoping to get everything done in the least amount of time as physically possible.

Arriving in her office, she put her hand out and quickly located the light switch, causing the room to be illuminated by a bright yellow glow. Dropping her bag down and placing her paperwork in a pile on the desk, she seated herself down onto the chair behind the desk as she turned her computer on. After 24 hours of not being on her computer, she dreaded to think of how many emails would be piled up on her laptop for her to read. However, before she could get into any of them, a gentle knock echoed around the room before a familiar tall figure appeared. "Mr. Hanssen" Serena looked up and smiled at the man who stepped into the room. "How's the patient?" Henrik asked as he moved towards her, shutting the door behind him gently. "He just woke up before I left, Chantelle has him till I answer some of these endless emails" Serena admitted with a heavy sighed before turning her attention to look at Henrik.

"What's this?" Serena inquired, a confused expression masking her porcelain skin as she reached forward to take the thin black file from him. It certainly wasn't a patient file, so what was Henrik up too? "Emergency foster care application" He revealed as he dropped himself down into the seat in front of her desk, a glimmer came to his eyes as he watched the look of realization wash over Serena as she handled the file as though it was a plane of glass - able to break at any moment if not handled correctly. "Henrik.." She breathed, uncertain about what to do as she looked from the file to the man before her, as though silently asking him what she should do. Hearing his given name on her lips made him freeze and look up at the woman before him. "Nicholas deserves someone who has his best intentions at heart, you're the best person for the job, Serena"He tried to reassure her, his usual harsh disciplined tone was now laced with concern and worry for the woman before him and the child he had grown undeniably fond of.

Her life was complicated enough as it was, could she really cope with the added pressure of another child? How would Eleanor react? She had grown up as an only child and she doubted her daughter would appreciate a new arrival to their family, but then again, her daughter was rarely home, choosing to spend more time with her two faced boyfriend and gullible best friends than with her own flesh and blood. Her mother would be overjoyed, as after all, she had been nagging at her to settle down again, because apparently having only one grandchild to spoil wasn't enough. Though could she truly abandon him, to force herself into a life of constantly considering the 'What if?' She had grown attached to him, perhaps a little too much, but had yet to regret a single moment of the precious time she had spent with Nicholas. Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, the decision was an easy one.

Pushing open the front cover, and rolling her chair forward to her desk once more, she placed the file flat down onto the table. Henrik didn't try to conceal the smile that fluttered from his lips as he watched her opening the file, having clearly made her decision - and the right one at that, he hadn't doubted that for a moment, even more so after having seen her with the infant on various occasions. The bond she had already formed with that child was undeniable - even to him. Picking up the nearest fountain pen, Serena read through the document at record speed, ticking the necessary boxes and signing her name when it was required. After crossing her T's and dotting her I's, she shut the file once more. Her choice had been made, and there was no turning back now. "Excellent, I'll have this sent to Child Services immediately" Henrik revealed as he stood from his chair to take the file from her in one swift movement.


	5. Would Have Stayed Up With You All Night

Chapter 5 | And I would have stayed up with you all night..

A/N I want to take a moment to thank you all for your continued reviews, follows and favourites. I very nearly didn't publish this story and now I'm so glad I did. Thank you all. Also, if you're curious, the chapter titles are all lyrics from the song 'How To Save a Life' by 'The Fray'.

It was amazing how much difference a night's sleep in your own familiar bed could make. The knots were gone from the back of her neck, and her usual night of paperwork and stress filled emails had been replaced with a long relaxing soak in the bath and a glass, or two, of her beloved Shiraz. If she was going to leave the hospital for the night, then she certainly wasn't going to be doing paperwork. It hadn't helped that Henrik had reminded her that she was no good too anyone, even more so Nicholas, if she was running on little to no sleep and chugging down three short espressos in order to keep her eyes open. She only left the hospital after warning the night shift nurses on several occasions that if _anything _happened then she was to called for _immediately - _no excuses.

Pulling her car into it's usual spot in the parking lot, Serena scooped up her satchel from the passenger seat and proceeded to push herself out of the car. Making her way towards the main entrance, Serena embraced the feeling of empty and relaxed arms which were usually pulled down by her endless mountains of paperwork that she had to drag from the hospital to her home and then back again the next morning.

Though that feeling didn't last very long...

Deciding that she didn't have to do her ward rounds for at least another half an hour, Serena stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the Children's Ward. "Hold the lift please!" Chantelle's familiar voice shouted towards the elevator, causing Serena to put her hand out to stop the metal doors from shutting. As the doors opened once more, Serena looked up as the blonde woman waddled towards her. Serena wasn't sure if she should laugh or be concerned. Chantelle's face was almost impossible to see as she attempted to palace her dusty pink handbag on her shoulder, a mountain of what appeared to be magazines and catalogues and then a travel container with two coffees on top. Once the blonde reached the elevator, Serena reached out to take the coffees from here before they could spill and ruin either Chantelle's clothes, or even worse, her own. "What are earth is all this for?" The elder woman asked as the metal doors shut behind Chantelle, leaving them both alone in the moving metal box. "You!' Chantelle exclaimed with a smile as she allowed herself to relax her shoulders a little as she looked down at bundle of magazines and catalogues. Serena raised an eyebrow as a confused expression crossed her face before she looked down at the top magazine. Nursery decor. "I thought they might help" Chantelle revealed as she pulled her arms up in order to drop the pile down into Serena's waiting arms. So much for the feeling of having her hands free. "Thank you, Chantelle" Readjusting the magazines and catalogues in her arm, Serena handed the coffees back to Chantelle as the doors of the elevator opened once more to reveal the children's ward. "Anytime, Ms. Campbell" As much as Serena appreciated the kind gesture, couldn't Chantelle have taken in a little less - or at the very least left them in her office for her?

Attempting to balance the bundle of magazines and still walk in a straight line, Serena eventually made her way down the down familiar corridor and towards the private room. Nicholas was wide awake, staring effortlessly at the white bunny next to him in the cradle. Dropping the magazines and catalogues down on the side table, she made her way over to the cradle. In one swift moment, she moved to pick up Nicholas, bringing him to rest against her shoulder.

She could remember whenever Eleanor was that small, whenever life was anything _but _complicated. Now, her daughter wanted nothing more than too put as much distance between the two of them as physically possible. She had always been told by people that whenever your children were that young, you would want to keep them that size forever. to keep things as least complicated as possible - before the arguments, teenager hormones, problematic boyfriends and an apparent 'need' for independence and freedom started to gradually set in.

Sitting herself down in the nearest chair, unable to go further than a few feet because of the IV, Serena sat herself down and sighed softly. In her mind, she knew she had made the right decision, but would this life changing choice only further damage her already difficult relationship with her daughter? Would Eleanor even care? Though on the flip side, Nicholas could be exactly what she and Eleanor needed. Something, well someone, for them to bond over. Serena looked up whenever the nurse stepped in. "Good morning, Ms. Campbell" The blonde woman announced upon entering the room, "He might get out soon you know, the doctor was talking about taking him off the IV today as his temperature seems to have went back to normal" Did this nurse forget that she was also a doctor, and that telling if Nicholas had a fever or not was as easy as waking up in the morning? "I'm assuming he'll be taken off the IV and discharged in the next day or two" Serena said to the nurse who looked shy for a moment, clearly forgetting who she had been talking too before. "Of course, the doctor will be around soon I imagine and you'll know for sure" The room fell silent then, more awkward than anything else as the nurse moved to pick up Nicholas' file to sign off the latest check up spot. "I'll leave you two alone" The nurse said softly before walking out of the room as silently as possible.

Serena sighed and tightened her hold on the infant in her arms for several moments. Why was it that the most interesting thing in the hospital seemed to be her personal life? She had heard some of the rumors, mainly because of Michael Spence and his big mouth, and some of them she couldn't help but laugh at herself. Most of the rumors were about her and Henrik, many of which were no doubt started by the rather unintelligent and easily amused nurses, some believed that both she and Henrik had sighed off on the fostering papers, while others originally thought that Nicholas was, somehow beyond her own imagination, her and Henrik's son. If she ever got her hands on the nurses who had started half of those rumors, then heads would surely roll.

Serena remained in the nursery until her pager started ringing, signaling that her time with Nicholas was coming to an end. Leaving the infant in the cot, Serena left the bundle of magazines on the table, deciding she could come and look at them later when she got off her shift. Like clockwork, she left the nursery, giving her usual warning to the nurses that if anything happened she was to be paged, before making her way back up to Keller. "Ms. Campbell, you're first elective of today has arrived" Chantelle announced as Serena arrived at reception. "Excellent, I'll be with them in a minute and then I want you to get them prepped for theater" She informed the younger girl as she moved to bring her schedule up on the ipad. If they decided to release Nicholas either tomorrow or the following day, then she would have to try to get as many of her electives crammed in as possible. Making a mental plan, one that she eventually decided to scribble down into her agenda, Serena made her way over to her first elective of the day.

Get them in and get them out. That was Serena's motto for the day. By one o'clock in the afternoon she had three electives done already and had Chantelle call two of the electives from the next day to come in for their operations. Most of the day went by in a blur, much of which Serena had spent in theatre in a desperate bid to clear her electives list for the following two days. The hard work eventually paid off, when five o'clock rolled around, Serena wanted to be anywhere _but _an operating room. Upon revision of her electives for the next two days, she managed to move all the remaining electives up to the next day, spread out across the afternoon so that the following day after that she was free of any electives.

Taking her time go back up to the children's ward, Serena took some time to mark herself presentable, because you could never look truly glamorous after spending several hours in a steaming hot operating room, and stopping by the canteen for a latte, because she suspected that caffeine would be an essential tonight.

Arriving at the nursery, she stood at the bottom of the cradle and picked up Nicholas' file as she watched the infant. He really did amuse her sometimes. He seemed to be nothing but captivated by the mobile spinning above his head, so much so that he almost hadn't noticed her arriving, acknowledging her with a smile before his attention returned to the mobile. From the looks of the notes, he would be off the IV tomorrow morning and out the following day. It was then that she considered how on earth she was going to get him home, and even then - where was she going to put him?

Deciding she could get away with a bit of shopping, after all, it was essential as she had absolutely nothing for Nicholas and she highly doubted he would want to wear Eleanor's old clothes that were pink from top to bottom. Sitting herself down on the seat nearest to the cot, Serena pulled out her iPad and picked up the first catalogue at the very top of the pile that closely resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Serena knew she was a shopaholic, granted she always shopped for a bargain, but she was a shopaholic to the bone - but this was just a tad extreme, even for her. Her excuse? Baby clothes, accessories and furniture were just too adorable too pass up. She was on her fifth catalogue, and her credit card was certainly feeling it, whenever Nicholas decided he wanted her attention, announcing it through his loud cries.

Placing the iPad down onto the table, dropping the catalogue and then her credit card on top, Serena stood and walked towards the cradle. "Now, Nicholas, what on earth could be the matter that you need to cry that loud?" She asked the infant as she bent over the cradle to pick him up, taking the bunny with her and holding them both to her chest as she ran her hand down Nicholas' small back. His cries instantly began to subside to that of a gentle whimper as a knock sounded from the door. "Come in" Serena called as she turned to face the door as the familiar swede appeared with a folder tucked under his arm. "Is now a good time or would you like me to come back?" Henrik asked as he half opened his door and looked inside at the woman and child. "You can come in, Nicholas just decided that he had enough of him not being the center of my attention" She confessed, glancing at the now silent infant who rested his head down against her shoulder. The pair remained silent for a few moments as Henrik made his way towards her, dark eyes never leaving her or the infant in her arms before he remembered the reason for his visit. "Your copy of the official paper, the social worker will be to see you tomorrow but as of now, you're officially his guardian" Henrik revealed as he placed the folder down onto the table, trying to resist the urge to fix the lopsided pile of magazines and catalogues as he turned to look at Serena. "Thank you, they're thinking of letting him out the day after tomorrow" Serena informed the man, over the last several days, she had seen a completely new side of him - and she didn't want to lose that. "Yes, I wondered why you seemed to be rushing through those electives of yours" So he had been keeping tabs on her now?

"If you need any help, Ms. Campbell. You know where I am" With a gentle nod of his head, the man turned to head towards the door, stopping only whenever the woman's voice graced his ears. "Serena. I think after all this and with everything you've helped me with..we can be on first name terms" She confessed, balancing the sleeping infant in her left arm as Henrik turned around to look at her. "Then, goodnight Serena" He nodded his head as he walked out the door. "Goodnight, Henrik" Serena replied as the door shut behind the man, leaving her and Nicholas alone once more as the clock struck ten - causing Serena to decide that it was about time both she and the baby went to sleep.

"Mr. Hanssen!" Henrik sighed deeply to himself, it was far too soon into the working day for him to have to deal with the American whom he had the greatest displeasure of knowing as on one of his consultants. "Yes, Mister Spence?' He asked, forcing out his usual monotonous tone as he turned around to face the man. "There's some guy here saying he has a delivery for Serena and no one can get ahold of her, or find the kid for that matter, so he needs to know where to dump all of these boxes" Michael spoke as though the entire word was about to fold in around him. "And I'm going to take the very wild assumption that someone told him to dump the boxes in your office?" Henrik asked, raising his eyebrow as he folded his arms before the man. "Exactly!" Michael exclaimed, raising his hands to show his anger at the situation. Typical American. Stepping around the man, Henrik made his way down the hallway towards Michael office. "If you would be so kind, can you move these boxes, and no doubt whatever else Ms. Campbell decided to buy, up to the my office. I'm sure Mr. Spence here can direct you" Upon entering the room, Henrik spotted several large cardboard boxes, all with various logos and symbols that he recongised from the catalogues Serena had been looking at the day before. By the looks of it, that woman could get rather carried away when left alone with a laptop and her credit card for several hours.

By the time Henrik returned to his office after doing his rounds, the entire right side of his office was filled with boxes. Five large boxes and two smaller ones were pushed against his back wall, making him slightly wondered if Serena had been buying for Nicholas or the entire children's ward. His curiosity got the better of him when he spotted that the receipt had been left on the top of his desk. He was midway through it whenever a knock resounded through the room. "Enter" He called as he placed it back down onto the desk, as though he had never been looking through it. The door was opened slowly before Serena appeared with Nicholas. "I see the patient is off his IV" Henrik remarked once the pair entered the room, with Serena shutting the door behind her. "That he is" Serena replied, glancing to her right to see where the boxes had been left. "I also see that my packages were left here. Thank you for saving them from Michael, God only knows what he would have done with them" She dreaded to think as she went over to inspect the boxes, though decided that doing that task with a baby wouldn't exactly be the easiest of things.

"Can you hold him for me for a minute?" She asked, not waiting for an answer before she walked towards him and slowly lowered Nicholas into his arms, not sure of the man's reaction. Henrik had spent time with Nicholas, watched over him, played with him even, but he had yet to hold him, which made Serena wondered why? Henrik looked at her gingerly, almost unsure as she placed Nicholas into his arms. The boy simply looked up at the swede, as though he was used to seeing his face every day, and stretched out his small fists as though he was about to yawn. "You're not going to break him, you know" Serena called over her shoulder as she bent down to sit on the floor beside one of the boxes, having picked up a pair of Henrik's scissors off the table on her way past.

She didn't hear a single word of the pair of them until she was well into the second box, having already opened the first, which had contained a leather diaper bag and various clothes, which she had slipped inside the bag before starting on the second box. While battling to get the car seat out of box, and the endless amount of tape and bubble wrap, Serena could have swore that she heard a giggle leave Nicholas, followed by a chuckle from Henrik. Looking up over the boxes, Serena couldn't help but wish she had a camera to capture the moment. Henrik was standing facing the window, Nicholas' back held protectively against his chest as he kept his left arm wrapped around Nicholas' stomach to keep him in place as he used his free hand to point out the landmarks in the distance. For whatever reason, Nicholas found Henrik's babbling to be rather hilarious, his opinion sounded by the gentle giggle that left his lips as Henrik spoke, causing the man to chuckle for a moment as he looked down at the child.

"You're rather good with him, you know" Serena informed him, her pale lips turning up in a smile as she watched him and Nicholas. If anyone had of told her, even a week ago, that she would be watching Henrik playing with an infant, then she would have sent them to the hospital's therapist to have their head checked, but now...

Though like everything else, the moment was ruined by a knock at the door.


	6. As He Goes Left And You Stay Right

"Hanssen, I've been waiting a week for you to get a new nurse for..." Michael started on a rampage before he even entered the room, letting the door slam back after him. Dropping his report onto the impeccably neat desk before him as he turned to look at the man's back, having yet to notice Serena in the corner, who was struggling to keep herself silent as she busied herself with one of the boxes. Biting her lip in order to contain a laugh at Michael's reaction, the woman decided to make her presence known by standing up from her hiding spot. It seemed Serena hadn't been the only person Michael had failed to notice. If Michael's face could have dropped the whole way down to AAU - then it would have. Henrik had turned to face the other man, having turned Nicholas in his arms so he was no longer facing outwards, clasping him in one arm - making the infant appear even smaller against his 'lanky' build. Henrik now seemed to be anything but Dracula - in fact, he almost seemed...human - a thought that stunned Michael into a state of silence.

"You were saying, Mr. Spence?" Henrik asked, keeping his tone monotonous as he raised an eyebrow, somehow managing to resist the urge to smirk at the man's facial expression. Serena, on the other hand, couldn't resist the urge to smirk - even letting out a light chuckle - as she made her way towards Henrik. "Michael" The woman stopped in front of the America, gently touching his arm in order to bring him out of his daze. "Yeah...AAU nurse" Michael stated, not sure how he was even able to produce any audible speech after the shock he had just had. Turning her back to Michael, Serena shook her head at Henrik as her smile began to grow a little more. "I'll take Nicholas, so you and Michael can have your all so important discussion" Serena suggested as she moved to take Nicholas from Henrik, slightly shocked to find that the infant was already beginning to doze off. Michael couldn't help but watch the all too domestic scene in front of him; was he dreaming? Or was his eyes playing tricks on him? Was this really the infamous Serena Campbell and the Dracula of Holby City standing before him?

However, these thoughts were pushed to the back of his head when Henrik sent him crashing back to earth by clearing his throat, causing Michael to advert his dark eyes from Serena and back towards the more senior, and taller man. "Your new agency nurse is due to start work today actually, I did email you about it Mr. Spence" Henrik revealed in a demoralizing tone as he rounded his desk in order to take his usual seat. From his vantage point, he could continue to watch - and appear interested - in whatever Michael had to say, but could steal a glance in Serena's direction. The woman in question was trying her best to strap the infant into his newly purchased car seat without waking him from his seemingly peaceful slumber. Clearly embarrassed, the American gingerly touched the back of his neck. "Ah, yes, my phone seems to have disappeared on me - hence why I didn't get your email" The man didn't want to admit that he was almost positive that he had left it at the bar last night. "I shall leave you and Ms. Campbell to do..." Michael turned to look from Henrik to Serena, looking down at the infant in the car seat, "...whatever it is that you were doing" He said shyly, in any other circumstance, he would have made a joke of how domestic the pair looked, but given the fact he was still in Henrik's bad books, he didn't want to lose his job on top of it.

"Cheerio little Campbell, Mama Campbell, Papa Hanssen" Taking a mocking bow before each of his colleagues, Michael decided it was best to leave the room while he still had his head attached to the rest of his body. As the door was gentle returned to its former closed position, Serena shook her head as she attempted to keep her laughter at bay, fearing that she may wake the peacefully sleeping infant. "May I ask what you find so amusing?" Henrik asked as he stalked over from his seat and towards the pair on the floor. Rolling her eyes, the man really could be blind to the most obvious of things, Serena picked up the beige cotton blanket before placing it on top of Nicholas, moving to tuck the extra material into the size of the car seat. "Michael looked like a cat caught in a set of blinding head lights" She informed her companion as she pushed herself up from the hard wooden floor, glancing down at the car seat as she placed the newly packed designer, which Serena had of course scooped up for a bargain, baby bag onto her shoulder, she crossed her arms in front of the man.

"Thank you for everything you've done these last few days..I truthfully don't know what I would have done without you" Serena confessed truthfully. He had been more helpful than she would care to admit, and she highly doubted she would have gotten through the last few days without him by her side. Taking a step forward, Serena wrapped her slender fingers around the delicate arm of the taller man as she stood slightly on her tip toes to kiss the man soft cheek before pulling away. "I really mean it, you've helped me a lot, and you owe you" She informed him, hoping he knew that he was one of the few people whom had ever gotten such a sincere statement out of her. Bending down, she clasped her right hand around the handle of the car seat before making her way towards the door, calling over her shoulder as she opened the heavy oak door that guarded Henrik's office. "I better get Nicholas back up to the nursery, I'll be up there if you need me" She called before stepping out of the room, not even looking back as she strutted off towards the children's ward once more.

Finally. Serena had never been so glad of a coffee in her life. Having already finished three electives that morning, Serena felt over the moon at being informed that this was her last elective for the day; then she could leave to have Nicholas discharged and enjoy a two well deserved days off. Drowning her double espresso, Serena placed the empty plastic cup down onto the nurses' station as she spotted her patient being escorted towards the operating room. Taking a glance at the clock, Serena decided she should finished this operation by twelve at the latest, giving her the rest of the day off. Grasping her hair up into a ponytail, she held the patient's file under her arm as she took the ever familiar route towards the operating room. "Right, ladies and gentleman, the sooner we get this started, the sooner we can all leave," And the sooner I can get back to Nicholas, Serena declared as she finished scrubbing her hands before gracing the theater with her presence for the third time that morning.

It had been a basic operation, in fact, Serena was positive that she could have preformed the operation with her eyes firmly shut and one hand tied behind her back. Abandoning her scrubs once more, she made her way to the lockers, decided that she needed to touch herself up a little after a morning in theater. Styling her hair in front of the mirror, she slipped her earrings back on once more, allowing herself a moment to examine her appearance in the mirror again before grabbing her handbag in one arm, and the baby bag in the other. With an undeniable skip in her step, Serena made her way out of the lockers and towards the nearest elevator that could take her to the children's ward.

"Ms. Campbell!" Serena stopped mid-step and groaned audibly as she heard the newest agency nurse screeching her name. God help her if that woman was going to ask her to look at a patient. By the time she had turned around, the young 5'2 red haired nurse was in front of her. "The children's ward left several messages for you when you were in surgery, something about Ni..Nicholas was it" The woman spoke as though she was simply discussing the weather, and not a child. Serena's eyes widened, her back straightening as she glared down at the woman. "Why did no one call me in theater? What did they say?" She snapped, ready to rip the woman's head from her shoulders. "Something about a blood test..." Deciding that she couldn't deal with any more of the nurses' half answer, Serena turned on her heels and all but run [as gracefully as one possibly could] down the hallway and towards the elevator, slamming down on the button for dear life. The mental doors open swiftly and Serena stepped inside at once, selecting the button for the children's ward before shutting the door. Her heart was beating like a race horse during a derby, and it took several moments for her to get her breathing under control. Had they found something in Nicholas' blood tests? Had he taken sick again?

The moment the elevator came to a stationary position, Serena pushed herself off the railing and marched down the narrow hallway towards the children's ward. Almost knocking down one of the nurses, she pushed open the main door and took the familiar path towards Nicholas' room. "Ms. Campbell!" She heard one of the nurses call as she battled to race after her, her reaction only adding to Serena's fears. "You called for me but I was in surgery, you said something about blood tests" Serena tried to keep her voice steady as the nurse caught up with her as she arrived at Nicholas' room, fear and anxiety running through her very veins.

Serena wasn't sure what she had been expecting..but it wasn't this.

Henrik Hanssen, the undeniable leader of Holby City, had abandoned his tailored jacket at the door and was currently residing in the lounge chair beside the crib, a sleeping Nicholas resting in his arms. Nicholas was okay, and from the looks of things he was one hundred percent healthy. Letting out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, Serena dropped her bags at the door beside Henrik's jacket and made her way towards the two men. As though sensing Serena's need to hold the infant, Henrik leant forward in his seat, holding the small boy up for her to take, watching as Serena clasped him to her chest, smothering his forehead in gentle kisses.

The nurse coughed from the door before looking up at the surgeon. "Ms. Campbell, we called you because we couldn't get Nicholas settled enough for his final blood test, whenever we couldn't get ahold of you, we called the secondary number on his contact details, Mr. Hanssen here, who was able to calm her right down almost instantly" The bubbly nurse declared as she flashed her cheshire cat smile at the two older doctors.

"It seems you may have picked the message up a little wrong, Ms. Campbell" Henrik couldn't help but chuckle as he heard Serena sigh in relief as she sat herself down on the seat previously occupied by Henrik himself. Content that nothing was wrong with the infant in her arms, she turned her head to look up at the man looming over her. "You think?" She replied in a sarcastic tone as she raised her eyebrow before allowing a smile to slip onto her lips.

Deciding to allow the three of them some privacy, the nurse backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her - unnoticed by either of the adults in the room.


End file.
